Number of major issues faces annual gathering of state legislators

LAS VEGAS - Should states spend budget surpluses on other programs or return the money to taxpayers?

What impact will the sale of merchandise on the Internet have on local and state tax revenues?

Where do states fit in the battle between Congress and the tobacco industry?

What about welfare reform?

Those are some of the major issues on the agenda during the four-day National Conference of State Legislatures, beginning here Monday.

The annual session is expected to draw some 1,200 legislators and 1,000 legislative staff members from across the country.

"The biggest issue will be revenue surpluses, whether that money should be refunded to taxpayers or used in other state programs," Gene Rose, public affairs director of the Denver-based NCSL, said Thursday.

Last year state legislatures returned more than $3 billion in surpluses and a new survey is expected to reflect the same types of numbers for 1998, Rose said.

"Every state has taken a different approach," Rose said. "Some have reduced food taxes, some have given rebates to taxpayers, others have reduced other taxes. The great thing about state legislatures is that each state can enact programs best fitting their needs."

With sales booming over the Internet, legislators are expected to take a hard look at sales tax implications on the state and local level.

"People are now able to buy so many goods and services over the Internet," Rose said. "State and local governments are concerned about what effect that will have on their tax revenues."

A few states currently have some sort of state tax on Internet sales items, but Congress is considering a moratorium on such taxes, Rose said.

"The concern of the state legislatures is that if there is a federal moratorium placed on Internet taxes, it would limit the ability of states to react to any type of impact the Internet would have."

Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore will be on hand Wednesday to discuss his state's landmark multibillion-dollar settlement with the tobacco industry.

"State legislatures are very concerned about the tobacco settlement, how Congress is going to react, how it will impact the states," Rose said.

Thursday afternoon, House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., will speak to the group via satellite on the future of the Internet and its impact on public policy.

Wendy's founder Dave Thomas will speak on an adoption foundation he has started and former presidential press secretary Dee Dee Myers will provide legislators with her "inside the beltway expertise," Rose said. Miss America Kate Shindle will speak on AIDS awareness.

Other key sessions include:

-Hazardous materials transportation;

-The state's role in regulating and promoting casino gambling;

-Comparing public and private prisons;

-Electric utility restructuring and its impact on consumers;

-Pharmaceutical innovations such as Viagra;

-The global economy and American foreign policy.

At the end of the conference, delegates vote on policy issues that will determine the NCSL'S lobbying position with Congress for the coming year.

"In this era of evolution, where Congress is passing more responsibilities on to the states, it's important for state legislatures to get together and focus on issues facing them," Rose said.

archive